UPDATED STORY: Fuel and Oil from Capsized Boat Mostly Dissolved

The minimal leaks of diesel fuel and oil from a capsized boat have mostly dissipated into the Manasquan Inlet and ocean, as efforts are made to find boat equipment, the Coast Guard said late Wednesday afternoon.

The vessel had 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 350 gallons of oil on board, Martin said.

A tug and barge to move the Atlantic Traveler from the edge of the south jetty may arrive by Friday, but it's expected to take until early next week to get the 64-foot boat off the rocks, said Coast Guard Petty Officer First Class Brian Martin.

Meanwhile, the inlet is closed to all outbound marine traffic and it may stay that way until the boat is moved out, Martin said.

State marine police have been trying to use sonar to locate boat equipment, such as cables, but the rough waters where the ocean and inlet meet are making that difficult, Martin said.

The Coast Guard reports they rescued three crew members who are unharmed.

William Hill, 58, Brick, Matthew Morris, 19, Point Pleasant, and William A. Lewis, 30, Marshallberg, N.C., were rescued and declined medical treatment after their boat slammed into rocks on the Point Pleasant Beach side of the inlet, Martin said.

When the boat capsized, the Coast Guard was already on the scene and pulled them out of the water which was about 52 degrees, Martin said.

Crew members were interviewed as part of the ongoing investigation and then left about 11:30 a.m., authorities said.

The Coast Guard has been working to contain the spills and its safety unit, which arrived from Philadelphia this morning, and TowBoatUS, are on the scene, working to contain and skim the fuel and oil from the water, Martin said.

The Coast Guard is continuing to investigate the accident and is keeping the inlet closed to all outgoing boat traffic, pending a decision to re-open by the Captain of the Port, Martin said. That office, based in Philadelphia, oversees marine traffic from Manasquan to the Indian River in Delaware.

Coast Guard officers standing guard on the jetty said that a Coast Guard escort boat in the inlet is escorting boats into the inlet one at a time in a controlled, minimal way.

Martin said the Coast Guard is concerned about any boats getting near the capsized vessel because its cables are lying under the water's surface and can be dangerous to any passing boat traffic.

The Atlantic Traveler's problems started when the fishing vessel was outbound and a hydraulic hose broke, causing the boat to lose steering, Martin said.

The crew called the Coast Guard by radio at 4:53 a.m., reporting they were heading towards the south jetty, which is on the Point Beach side.

At 5 a.m., a 47-foot Coast Guard life boat arrived on the scene, threw a half-inch polypropelene "messenger line" to the fishing boat and, at 5:03 a.m., tried towing it, Martin said.

He said the Coast Guard's hope was that the crew would continue pulling in the messenger line, which was attached to a thicker 3 1/4-inch nylon line, and hook the loop of the nylon line onto the boat.

However, the thicker line was never attached, Martin said. Instead, the crew, terrified of crashing into the rocks and rushing in the pitch darkness to tether onto the Coast Guard boat, attached only the thinner messenger line to the boat's cleat, which is an attachment point.

"It doesn't take much for that to snap," Martin said, referring to the messenger line.

At 5:06 a.m. the Traveler hit the south jetty and waves knocked the boat up onto the rocks, Martin said. As the boat began slipping down the rocks, the messenger line broke under the strain and the boat slid down and capsized, Martin said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection, state police, Point Pleasant Beach police and Tow Boat US are assisting in the clean-up and investigation of the accident in the inlet which is about 80 feet wide.

Contractors hired by an insurance company, carrying a policy for the Atlantic Traveler, arrived on the scene in the late morning to assess the damage and come up with a clean-up plan for oil and diesel fuel that has leaked out in a minimal way from the damaged boat.